Is there a quick way to tell if the P.O. did the bearing already? I'd feel pretty dumb if I got the kit and it turned out it was done. I ask because the stuff in the box came out as a thick liquid, not as a grease...

Is there a quick way to tell if the P.O. did the bearing already? I'd feel pretty dumb if I got the kit and it turned out it was done. I ask because the stuff in the box came out as a thick liquid, not as a grease...

Remove outer cover and remove bearing cap on inner cover. You will see a seal on the bearing instead of the exposed balls in the cage.

Installing the small sealed main shaft bearing takes about 1-2 hrs. Hitchcock's sells a kit that has you replace the big main shaft bearing also, but I didn't notice any oil leakage with just the replacement of the small bearing in the inner cover. If you replace the bearing you should also drill a vent in the filler as recommended by Pete Snidal. If you have a left shift you should convert to a right shift while doing the bearing mod. These mods will have a great effect on shifting performance of your gearbox, restoring it to it's original design and giving it a much needed update for use of a readily available gearbox lubricant.

So the manual says use a 6303 ZZ. I found this:http://www.mcmaster.com/#6303-ball-bearings/=ly17wwfor a little more than $11. But, there's an extra bearing, some seals and o-rings in the kit. But, the kit is $75. Do I need both bearings? The seals? The o-rings? Or can I just buy the 6303 from McMaster and call it a day?I'm not trying to cheep out on a good supplier, but it is a heck of a markup for some bearings and o-rings, and I already need to buy that RHS shift kit, which is setting me back about what I'm comfortable with as it is.

If I can jump in this tread and answer your question, it depends upon where your leak is coming from. If the leak is from the un-sealed 6303, then all you need is a 6303 ZZ which includes the seals for that bearing. However, if your leak is from around the kick starter shaft, you will need the O-ring that fits around the kick start shaft, .......and if your leak is coming from the final drive shaft between the spocket and the gearbox, you need to know if the final drive shaft bearing has the seals in place. If not, you would need those seals, as well as a small O-ring on the sprocket side of the final drive shaft.

If I were to do this again, I would also add an oil thrower ring (thin washer) on the inside of the final drive shaft. I don't believe they install these thrower rings on the modern gearbox but I have seen some old diagrams from the 1950's (before oil seals were common) that show an oil thrower on both ends of the main shaft.

the basic issue is that the output bearing has a felt seal and they do not work well against oil - at least that is the case with the Indian built RE. My guess is that the Albion gearbox was always built that way.